[Python-Dev] Compiling the source without stat (original) (raw)

"Martin v. Löwis" martin at v.loewis.de
Wed Dec 14 20:51:15 CET 2011

It's 99% definite that I can't compile further without touching the source code. I have to #define my own PYOSwhatever and handle files in my own way. In that case where should my special file handling cases go?

It's difficult to say how to proceed. On one hand, I don't see an overwhelming need to support systems without stat, and am tempted to say that you are on your own.

On the other hand, it appears that people keep asking for it, from time to time. So if it was possible to support such systems without making the code too convoluted, it may be worth supporting it.

One thing seems clear: without stat(), we cannot possibly support .pyc files, at least not in pycache. So one consequence of a lacking stat should be that all the code dealing with caching of byte code files needs to be disabled. Supporting .pyc as modules might still be possible.

It's questionable how to deal with path searching in the absence of stat. Testing for the presence of a file is possible in principle by trying to open the file, and closing it when it was found to be present. So in the places where we only check for the presence of a file, an alternative implementation could be provided.

In any case, it needs someone to champion such a project, preferably in an ongoing manner (i.e. several years). So if you are interested, you should

Alternatively, you can just make your own fork of Python, which you may or may not publish.

Regards, Martin

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